


Katie's Story

by mandykaysfic



Category: Stargate Atlantis
Genre: F/M, Gen, back story
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-18
Updated: 2014-01-18
Packaged: 2018-01-09 03:38:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,011
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1140972
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mandykaysfic/pseuds/mandykaysfic
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Back story for Katie Brown, told in five year intervals.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Katie's Story

**Katie at Five**

If she lay still and listened very carefully, the only thing Katie could hear from inside the house was an occasional creak Mommy said was the house settling. Outside, a dog that sounded like Timmy from over the road barked. Then Max from next door barked back. Katie had some goldfish. She wondered how they talked to each other and twisted her mouth to make some bubbly sounds. They would probably sound better if she made them in the water next time she had a bath. She pretended she was Goldie and made some 'glop glop' sounds to Bubbles, telling him to look at the sky with her. She twitched back the corner of her curtain and stared out of the window. 

Katie loved to look up at the sky. Clear, blue skies. Cloudy skies, especially when the clouds were fluffy and white and you could see pictures in them. Stormy skies, when the rain poured down and lightning flashed and she wasn't even scared. Best of all though was the night sky when the stars were out and the moon was like a big bright ball. Katie's Auntie Dot had a book with pictures of the stars that they read together when Katie stayed there. That's how Katie knew the stars had names. Auntie Dot let her stay up late and they'd go outside to find the stars and the patterns they made. Some of the names were really stupid, so Katie gave the ones she could see from her window better names and once more made a promise to herself that when she grew up she would visit them all.

Her cheeks grew hot and she hid under her blankets. She'd told a lie about that today. Mrs Collins had asked everyone to say what they wanted to be when they grew up and Katie had fibbed. Instead of saying she was going to be an astronaut, she'd said she wanted to be a ballerina, like Brenna and Jayde. She and Brenna and Jayde did everything together. Brenna and Jayde wanted to be ballerinas, and they said Katie had to be one too, otherwise she couldn't play with them. Since she wanted to be their friend practically more than anything, she said she'd be a ballerina too, even though when they played together she had to be the Wicked Witch every time. Brenna, (who was tallest) danced the Handsome Prince and rescued the Beautiful Princess Jayde, (who had the longest hair) from Katie's clutches. Space stuff was for boys, they said. Space stuff was for boys, she agreed and pestered her mom for ballet lessons, and to grow her hair long enough to put up in a bun. The three stars that formed a straight line she called Brenna and Jayde and Katie, but she never told her friends about them, or that she looked out of her window at them every single night.

 

**Katie at Ten**

 

“Katie! We need to leave now!”

“Coming, Mom,” called Katie and hurriedly put a few sunflower seeds into the cage. Mickey and Minnie wasted no time getting over to the tasty treats. She sighed as she checked her mirror; her hair was coming down on the left side already. She grabbed a couple more hair grips and as she clattered down the stairs, she thought enviously of Jayde's long, straight hair that stayed neatly in its bun, no matter how hard they danced. “Mom, could you?” and she held out the grips.

“Your hair is just like your Auntie Dot's used to be when she was your age,” commented Katie's mom for what had to be the hundredth time. She pinned back the flyaway strands, then pointed to Katie's ballet bag that leaned against the wall. “Don't forget your things.”

“Do you think any of the baby mice will have black ears?” asked Katie once the car had turned onto the main road. 

“I don’t know.” Katie’s mom bit off an exclamation and sounded the horn when a car unexpectedly pulled in front of her.

Katie grinned; Mom nearly said a bad word. The swear jar was almost full and the trip Disneyland was still six months away. They were going to be able to buy a lot of extra treats at this rate. “I hope one does. It would be so cute. You know, like a Mouseketeer.”

“Uh huh. Did you ask Frankie about that? After all, it is his biology project.” 

“He said his breeding program was...was...not specific enough, or something.”

“Mm hmm. Well, it wouldn't be.”

“Can you do this with your tongue?” Katie went off at a tangent and stuck out her tongue. The edges were rolled up. “Frankie said that's a genetic trait.” She crossed her eyes as she peered down at the tip of her tongue. “What's a genetic trait? Since Frankie's my cousin, shouldn't he be able to roll his tongue too? He can't, did you know?”

“No, I didn't. I need to watch the traffic for now. We'll talk about it later tonight, okay?”

“Can you get me some books explaining it from the library?”

“Sure.”

“Today? Please, Mom,” Katie added quickly.

“I suppose I can detour by the library.”

Ten minutes later, Katie's mom pulled up almost at the studio door. “Dance well,” she said, as she did every week, and stuck her rolled-up tongue out at her daughter.

 

**Katie at Fifteen**

 

“Hey, Kat! Wait up! You doing anything this weekend?” 

Katie slowed down as Alyce, or Lace as she was still trying to convince people to call her, rushed up. She was the only one who actually addressed Katie as Kat. Really, the whole name thing had been a failure. Lace, Rogue and Kat were no more or less popular than Alyce, Rojanna and Katie. They were still just three ordinary girls; smart but not geeks, sporty but not jocks, neither part of, nor victims of, the 'in' crowd. “Nothing special. I was only going to work on my Botany project. Did you want to go to the movies or something?”

“This is the weekend the Astor is showing 'The House of Wax' in 3-D.” 

Katie rolled her eyes. Alyce had a thing for old horror movies. She also had a thing for dragging her friends to the Astor's occasional special screenings or inviting them to vintage video nights and sleepovers. She grinned at her friend. “Yeah, I'll come.” While her research into the Tobacco Mosaic Virus was fascinating, even Katie was prepared to acknowledge she had a soft spot for Vincent Price. “What about Ro?”

“She's coming.”

“Good.”

They parted company; Katie to wrestle with Math and Alyce to convince Mrs Jacobs that her latest essay was not another thinly-disguised plot for a blockbuster movie she hoped to produce in the future. x, y and z failed to hold Katie's attention when a stray thought about the replication process of the Tobacco Mosaic Virus in tomato plants led to an idea involving the P30 movement protein she'd been reading about. She jotted a few notes in the margin of her text book. 

Later that evening, Katie set aside the journal in which she'd been writing and stared out of her window. She looked for the star she'd named after her aunt. _Rigel_ had been 'Auntie Dot' to Katie ever since she could remember. “I had another idea today, Auntie Dot,” she murmured. “I've written it down, just in case. What do you think of this?” And as she promised once again to find a cure for the cancer that had taken her aunt three years ago, she swore 'Auntie Dot' twinkled a little brighter.

 

**Katie at Twenty**

 

“Look up, Katie. Communicate with your audience.”

“But, Brad...I'm scared I'll forget everything.”

“You won't. You know this stuff back-to-front and inside out. Besides, job opportunities,” he sing-songed.

“This is just a student presentation. I won't be graduating for a while yet.” Katie shuffled the papers she held. “Anyway, I don't want a job in Biosafety.”

 

“Irrelevant. It's never too early to start putting yourself out there. Now again. From the top.”

Katie sighed. She rearranged her notes for the umpteenth time and stammered her way through her introduction. She should have picked up a public speaking course somewhere along the way. A flash of blue off to the side caught her eye and she involuntarily looked up. Brad's name left her lips in a high pitched squeak. His discarded shirt lay draped over the desk while his fingers were busy at the button on his jeans.

“They tell you to imagine your audience in their underwear to help deal with nerves. I'm giving you the real thing here.”

Her cheeks were burning; she knew that from the radiating heat she felt. “Bra-ad.”

“Hey, I've got an idea. You should strip down to your underwear too. Believe me, once you've practiced a few times like that, you'll get through your presentation easily. Go on. Give it a go.”

“Brad.” Katie hated the way she sounded, hated that she couldn't seem to say anything other than 'Brad', hated that her nerves always seemed to get the best of her.

“Okay. How about once with just me in my underwear and then try it with you stripped off too? C'mon, it'll be the best Biosafety lecture ever.”

Brad was grinning and Katie couldn't help smiling back. She had to admit it was the most original way to get her into bed he'd come up with yet. Since she'd finally decided to sleep with him, and he was helping her with her presentation, she rushed through her introduction, trying not to let Brad's bare chest distract her. After losing her place three times, she tossed her notes aside and joined him on the sofa.

 

**Katie at Twenty-five**

 

Katie joined with others applauding the latest speaker. The symposium had proved interesting. The company she'd joined after gaining her doctorate had two presenters, one of whom she had assisted with part of his research. They'd already appeared in the morning. She shifted in her seat, checked her watch and circled her shoulders a few times. There was still an hour to go, but it was the next speaker she really wanted to hear. Dr David Parrish's research into the medical applications of _Podophyllum peltatum_ mirrored the direction of some of hers with _Stenocereus pruinosus_. She was keen to learn more about his method of gene-splicing. She had with her a copy of a paper he'd co-authored a year ago in the hope she'd be able to speak with him; there were quite a few questions she wanted to ask. His opinions on ethnobotany and its importance in finding a cure for cancer also interested her.

She couldn't believe her luck when she later found herself sharing an elevator him. She pulled the article out of her bag. 

“Dr Parrish, I wonder if I could ask you about this?” Katie smiled when he flushed.

“Sure, Miss?”

“Katie Brown. Dr Katie Brown. I'm a botanist too. “

“Let me guess. You want to ask about,” and he jabbed a finger halfway down the page. “We've actually been looking into that. The original research didn't take into account,” and he was off.

Katie stared, fascinated. The man positively radiated exuberance as he warmed to his subject. “Oh, but I have more questions,” she wailed when the elevator came to a stop.

“Listen, would you like to join me for dinner? We could continue talking. I would like to hear about your work too,” he added. “Your grasp of where this could lead is exceptional, you know. Most people don't seem to get it.”

“Thank you. I'd love to have dinner with you.” 

“How about the restaurant on the first floor? In half an hour?” 

It was close to two in the morning when they finally called it a night. David handed Katie his card and urged her to keep in touch. “It would be great if we ended up working together at some stage,” he suggested.

 

END

**Author's Note:**

> Atlantis would take place some five years after this.


End file.
